Tired

Price

£999 (body only); £1,149 (with lens)

The latest micro four-thirds camera from Olympus is clearly
designed to appeal to all those hoary, wisened photographers who
long for the good ol' days.

Design
Olympus' new digital OM series is modeled after the company's
original, beloved OM film cameras from the 1970s. But the OM-D line
is not just some tossed-off homage -- the first camera in the line,
the E-M5, is a fantastic picture-making tool.

It makes excellent RAW and JPEG images, and it is certainly the
most customisable compact today. And the thoroughly modern design
-- a magnesium-clad, weather-sealed body -- is so masterfully
executed that I bet a lot of the "if it's not curvy, it's crap"
cognoscenti will be wooed by it.

Optics
At the heart of the E-M5 is a collection of core features that
makes it quite possibly the best-performing micro four-thirds
camera on the market today: a new 16-megapixel TruPic VI image
sensor, a speedy processor, the five-axis mechanical image
stabilisation system, an articulated OLED touchscreen and a
high-speed lens drive control.

Both RAW and JPEG images can fly into the E-M5 at a 9fps burst
rate with awfully impressive results up to ISO 6,400. Olympus'
default algorithms tend to over-sharpen JPEGs (this can be dialled
down in-camera), but they are still on par with the tops in the
mirrorless realm. RAW images are equally pleasing, with lots of
highlight and shadow latitude for creative control once they're
downloaded.

Controls
Using the E-M5′s controls and dialling in custom settings is
deceptively easy. The two wheels at the top of the body are the hub
of the control centre, and they can be set to operate different
functions in a host of combinations to suit your shooting
preferences. The Movie Record, Fn1 and Fn2 buttons are also
configurable to 50 different settings. Once you get it set up to
your taste, you won't be missing great shots while fumbling through
menus.

Another big plus for this Olympus is its five-axis mechanical
image stabilisation system. Set to compensate for pitch, yaw,
vertical, horizontal and rolling motion, this technology works
better than anything else in the category. I found it gave an extra
four to five stops to still images in challenging handheld
situations. Couple this IS system with the weather-sealed 12-50mm
kit lens and the E-M5′s impressively fast autofocus system, and you
can produce sharp images even relatively low light.

Screen
A lot of cameras in this category come sans viewfinder. Not this
one. Olympus went all out and provided two options for getting a
look what you're shooting -- an impressively sharp and info-packed
eye-sensitive electronic viewfinder (EVF) built into the top, and
an articulated OLED touchscreen display on the back. The rear
display tilts up and down (80 and 50 degrees, respectively) and
switches off when the camera is brought to the eye. The touchscreen
offers an easy way to check and adjust settings, and it can be
configured to choose focus points and fire the shutter just by
tapping the screen.

Even though it's mirrorless, Olympus has incorporated a
traditional SLR-like tall prism box with a hot shoe. Sadly, there's
no pop-up flash beneath it -- a separate palm-sized strobe is
included in the kit -- but there is a socket at the back of the
prism for other external accessories like the PenPal Bluetooth
transmitter, a stereo microphone or LED lights.

Video
In the realm of video, Olympus finally switched from AVCHD to the
H.264 MOV HD video format that's easier for users to edit.
Unfortunately, the camera only shoots in 30fps without any option
for 24 or 25fps. In spite of its output limitations, the E-M5 makes
very good video -- especially when aided by the five-axis image
stabilisation system that takes the jitters out of most handheld
shots, even when walking.

Every camera has a flaw, and the nail that sticks up on the E-M5
is in the continuous focusing performance of its AF system. It
simply can't compete with a DSLR. However, this is a condition from
which all mirrorless cameras suffer. Thankfully, the E-M5 is far
less symptomatic that its peers.

Conclusion
Whether you're agog over the E-M5′s flashback styling or you're
absolutely exhausted by the nostalgia of its sheathing, there's no
denying it's at the head of this century's pack of compact
mirrorless cameras. Given the guts of this camera, its usability
and its performance, it's even a contender for a DSLR
replacement.